Disability; probably one of the worst words to use for humanity. People who hear Disabled know the pain of it. Society never treats disabled individuals equally, and they are always tagged as ‘Weak Links or Damaged Goods,’ i.e., Good For Nothing. However, that isn’t true because disability is a matter of perception. There is no more significant disability in society than the inability to see a person as more.
Virali Modi courageously challenged and then defeated this poor mentality. She worked hard to prove herself. She is a motivational speaker, model, influencer, and content creator. She achieved it all despite encountering disability in her teenage years.
For Virali, living an everyday life seemed almost impossible as she always needed a caretaker around her, but they say ‘Where there is a will, there is a way’ similar thing happened in her case. She couldn’t get rid of the disability but acquired the highest position in her career that made her life worth living. Let us know her story and applaud her efforts.
Virali Modi – My Story
I’m Virali Modi. I was born in Mumbai, but I grew up in the USA. I have done my GED in the US, which is equivalent to the 12th standard. At present, I’m working as a motivational speaker, model, influencer, and content creator. I inspire youth and motivate them to overcome difficulties. However, achieving this position wasn’t easy for me either. There was a time when I wasn’t even able to move my body, so I forgot about becoming an influencer. Because at the age of 14, I was diagnosed with a rare and unknown disease. This disease made me disabled in the eye of society.
The incident took place in my life in 2006 when I visited Mumbai for a month. It started when I reached back. Sometimes I used to experience constant headaches, and it wasn’t ordinary pain but way above it. The pain was worse than migraine. Apart from that, I used to suffer from a cold and high fever. Often my temperature would reach around 103° to 104°C.
After encountering these symptoms, I went to my doctor, and he said, ‘It’s just a normal fever or Malaria. Take Paracetamol or Crocin, and you’ll be fine soon.’ and told me to go back to my home. I gulped the prescribed medicines, and they worked well. For a while, I was relieved, so I didn’t concentrate much on it until my symptoms turned out fatal. Because these medicines only reduced my temperature for a certain period. The fever never went away.
After monitoring my deteriorating condition, the doctor prescribed some tests, but each test was negative. They couldn’t find a single disease in my body. My mother suspected it to be Malaria, but her guess turned out to be nothing more than a mere assumption.
Doctors said it could be Malaria, but reports aren’t showing it, and we cannot treat her without being sure. We went back to our house, and I slept in the living room after taking Crocin. My mother ruffled my hair lightly when I woke up. After a while, I started Hallucinating and talking nonsense.
I told my mother, ‘You are dead for me. Who are you? Where is my family? You have kidnapped me. You will kill me. Leave me because I want to go back to my home.’ I instructed my parents to stay away from me because I couldn’t recognize them.
They were utterly shocked. Then my mother cajoled me and advised me to take some rest, so I went back to sleep. I was completely fine when I woke up. After getting up, I rushed towards the washroom only to find out that I couldn’t walk properly. I was walking like a drunkard.
Gradually, I lost my ability to pass urine. I became handicapped. My parents admitted me to the emergency room, where the doctor inserted a tube in my bladder to empty my bowels. Later, I was shifted to a bigger hospital where they did all the possible tests, including MRI. They spotted a shadow behind my neck and suggested another spinal tap.
Within a limited time frame, I suffered cardiac arrest, respiratory arrest, and seizure for 30 seconds. Then I was declared dead for 7 minutes as I fell unconscious and doctors couldn’t find my heartbeat.
My nurse went to my mother and said, ‘Mrs. Modi, if you want to see your daughter one last time. You better come with me.’ My parents ran through the corridor to reach me. At that time, doctors were giving me electric shocks with a defibrillator. They said, ‘Sorry, we may not be able to save your daughter. Your daughter is a gone case.’ They said it because my body was lying on the bed lifelessly for seven minutes without a heartbeat, without a pulse, and without making a single movement.
After trying thrice, they got my heartbeat back, but it was beating very slowly, so doctors put me on a ventilator. That evening, I got my senses back, and I was able to recognize everyone. They took me for another spinal tap. Later, I was shifted to ICU, where I slipped into a coma.
In the next 23 days, I was declared dead twice. The first time because I had lost so much blood, and my hemoglobin level dropped to 6. The second time was when my body temperature dropped below 90°C, but somehow I kept coming back to life. Doctors didn’t know the reason behind my health issues, and I didn’t know what protected my existence. Perhaps something in the universe wished to save my life.
On the 21st of September, doctors notified my parents ‘It is very difficult for her to survive. We wish to turn off the ventilator, but we need you to sign a consent form. She is suffering a lot, so we suggest you stop her treatment and let her die peacefully.’ Doctors had lost their hopes, and stopping my treatment seemed a logical idea to them. Then my mother fell on their feet and requested them to hold on till the 29th of September as I was turning 15 on the 29th of September. She wanted to celebrate my birthday, so the doctors agreed to do it.
On the 29th of September, my entire family arrived in the ICU. They had decorated the room. At exactly 3:05 P.M. (Birth Time), my father wished me Happy Birthday. He took my hand to cut the cake, and I opened my eyes. I came out of a coma on my birthday. Everyone started shouting, doctors arrived to evaluate my state.
Doctors announced ‘She is out of danger now. Everything will be fine soon. Thank you, Mrs. Modi, for not losing hope in your daughter. You saved us from committing a sin. Congratulations! Your daughter is back to life.’ Then within 20 minutes, I slipped into a coma again. However, doctors assured my parents with their words. They said that there was nothing to worry about and I will regain my consciousness soon.
Read the second part here.
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